THE BANALITY OF EVIL IN THE CONTEXT OF DEONTOLOGY, ARETOLOGY AND UTILITARIANISM.

This paper aims to identify the phenomenon of the banality of evil as the current danger of the contemporary society, to analyse its causes and suggest conceptual means to overcome it. The concept of the "banality of evil" was introduced into the ethical theory by H. Arendt in order to underline the monstrosity of the totalitarian regime. We are inclined to the view that the reflection of this concept has now become highly topical and includes inspirational potential that has not been fully exploited yet at the level of ethics. It is a general trend in the development of the civilized society that activities that are considered important within the society acquire institutional character. However, it is necessary to highlight the fundamental ethical issue. Submission to the obligations arising from participation in institutionalized activities can lead to amoral behaviour. The banality of evil can be committed by someone who follows the rules of his or her institution without doubting them. Such a person fulfils the obligations imposed by the institution without considering their general moral quality. The banality of evil thus arises not as a result of individual failure in terms of violation of the given rules, but on the contrary, as a result of uncritical adherence to them. Therefore, conformism is considered one of the main causes of the banality of evil. The banality of evil is also associated with the growth of individualism, because it leads to the fact that an individual breaks away from a social group and ceases to assess his or her behaviour in terms of overall telos of human life. Revealing the causes of the banality of evil becomes the starting point for finding ways to resist this evil. We proceed from the assumption that under the current ethical discourse, three different moral concepts are competing between themselves: utilitarianism, deontology and aretology. We maintain a critical attitude to utilitarianism, which in our opinion does not offer theoretical tools to overcome the banality of evil. On the other hand, we consider virtue ethics by MacIntyre a preferable approach, but in general, we tend to be inclined to the deontological tradition. Deontological ethics (ethics inspired by Kant's ethics of duty) is able to define and justify insurmountable ethical minimum formulated in the form of necessary commands and prohibitions, which are not subject to specific partial purposes, but autonomously promote a certain absolute value. The phenomenon of the banality of evil justifies the need to supplement inherently heteronomous morality of the institution with autonomous morality, which is currently finding its adequate expression in the deontological tradition. In our opinion, full application of autonomous morality in both specific areas of human activity is the main means of overcoming the banality of evil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]